Miss Ukraine dramatically stripped of title for being married and having child

KIEV – Miss Ukraine has been stripped of her title after she failed to disclose that she has a child and was previously married.

Veronkia Didusenko, 23, took home the crown in Kiev last Thursday but was later disqualified when organizers discovered she had lied about her personal life on her application form.

The beauty queen has a four-year-old son with her ex-husband but competition rules ban mothers or women who have been married from entry.

Miss Great Britain previously had similar rules banning mothers and married women but abolished these in 2013 as part of a move to make the pageant more relevant.

Didusenko, who has 11,500 Instagram followers, posted a message on the site thanking fans for their support at such a ‘difficult time’.

She wrote: ‘Friends, I have never been a blogger, but we already have more than 10,000. Thank you for your sincere support at such a difficult time for me! You are FANTASTIC.’

However, she has faced harsh criticism from some followers who accused her of being ‘dumb’ for failing to understand the rules.

One wrote: ‘There are so many pageants, she could confuse a Miss contest with a Mrs one.’ Another added: ‘What a silly thing to do’.

It is unclear who will take Didusenko’s place but event organizers suggested it might not automatically be passed to the runner-up.

The Miss Ukraine pageant said it has the right to ask Didusenko to cover the costs related to electing a new winner but that it would not.

In 2013 Miss Great Britain announced it had abolished rules banning women who were mothers or had been married from competing.

It said at the time: ‘Being a wife or mother has no bearing on career-minded women in the 21st century so we strongly believe that a woman that is or has been married or has children can be a strong positive role model for others.’